Team Flare Needs To Cuddle And Other Stuff Happens Too
by Yugoslavia
Summary: Some tired, sexy people work for Team Flare. They also can only afford one bed. Actually, not even a bed.
1. Chapter 1

The back room was empty. The TV mounted on the wall was on, but muted, playing a news program on something in the Snowglobe City. The coffee machine was off. The microwave was off.

In the center of the room, a bright orange bean bag.

Bryony opened the door, cracking it open just slightly and pulling her head around through the doorway. Her fingers drummed on the door as she contemplated the inside of the room. Her eyes affixed to the bean bag. She bit her lip in thought. Opening the door just slightly again, she poked her head back behind the door, looking behind her. The hallway was empty.

Bryony stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. Now it was just her and the beanbag.

Stepping up to the beanbag cautiously, Bryony looked down at it, tilting her head in curiosity. She turned in place, then slowly bent her legs down into a squat. She sank her whole lower back into the plush material of the bean bag, resting her head limply behind her on a bulging section of the bean bag. A gentle sigh escaped her. She didn't stare at the TV, she just stared up at the ceiling and thought deeply.


	2. Chapter 2

Bryony didn't pay attention to time in the room. There were no clocks in the room. The top of the hour had been announced on the subtitled TV, but Bryony didn't pay attention. She instead just stared at the ceiling, listening to herself breathe and the air circulate in the room.

The door opened at the opposite side of the room. It was like a crack of thunder, the loudest thing in the room in what felt like ages.

Bryony flinched, but stayed in the bean bag, staring ahead. Beneath her blinking visor, Bryony looked over to the slightly opened door, barely tilting her head.

Celosia appeared, marked by her plainly purple hair and the thin beam of purple light that bounced perpetually across her visor. The door opened a little more slightly, but she didn't move in any more into the room than she already had. She just stayed, staring past Bryony as she thought of what to say.

At this point, Bryony had fully turned her head around to face Celosia. The hypnotic, infectious comfort of the bean bag made her immediately sink her chin into her arm and the beanbag. Her green lips remained pursed, her ears attentive to Celosia.

Celosia stammered quietly. She finally cleared her throat. "Is everything okay?"


	3. Chapter 3

Bryony stared up at Celosia. She sighed and sat up slightly from where she was, levying her hands on the fattened lip of the bean bag and planting her boots firmly in the carpet to stand up.

Celosia immediately stepped forward, only just catching the door to close behind her. Just the two of them and the bean bag. Her hands held together, fingers laced together, lips pursing together. Seeing Bryony had paused from getting up, she stepped a little closer, pacing around Bryony and the beanbag.

"It's totally fine!" said Celosia. "Really! I'm glad it's getting some use besides myself. It could use a little more love than it's been getting. And I'm very glad you're comfortable. Really!"

Bryony was frozen in where she was sitting, processing Celosia's words, she stared up at Celosia.

Celosia continued. "No! No, you've been looking stressed. _Very_ stressed, I must say. I was just hoping you might find the time to relax one of these days, and it looks like that wish came true."

Bryony only stared, swallowing as she opened her mouth to reply.


	4. Chapter 4

"And... You think it's mine?" Celosia replied cautiously.

Bryony nodded.

Kneeling down in front of the bean bag, Celosia smiled, facing Bryony. She squatted on her heeled boots, her arms huddled together in front of her. She paused, staring at Bryony curiosly.

Slowly, Celosia's fingers found their way to the sides of her own head, finding a metal release tab. Her other hand held the front of her visor. The visor clamps released with a brief pneumatic hiss, dropping the heavy metal object onto the hand that held it on. The trailing lights on the small visor track dimmed immediately. The rows of blinking lights on the metal surface clicked off.

The visor lowered, held close to Celosia's stomach. Celosia blinked and squinted, letting her eyes adjust to the bright lights of the room. Finally, Celosia stared deep into her reflection on Bryony's visor, through the blinking pixels that scattered on the single gigantic lens. A pair of brilliant lavender eyes stared back at her with tiny pupils.

"Hah, it's nice getting some air to the eyes," Celosia giggled. She rubbed a thumb under her eyelid, massaging it gently. "You should try it! Really!"

Bryony only stared.

As the silence went on, Celosia frowned lightly. "Bryony... Bry... Is something wrong?"


	5. Chapter 5

Celosia's visor rested flat on the ground beside the bean bag, where her boots had been. Celosia stood up, crossing the room towards the door. She clicked the switch off to the main lights. Following the edge of the room towards the area where the TV lit the room, Celosia tapped a small plastic touch panel on the tall square lamp. A warm yellow right filled the room, lighting Celosia's side.

She walked back as a silhouette towards Bryony. A smile could be seen on the edges of her cheeks.

"Scoot over," she said.


	6. Chapter 6

Bryony tensed. Staring up at Celosia, who approached from straight-on, Bryony scooted to the left, crawling with her hands holding her up just from the dip in the bag she had created. She waited with anticipation, her arms tensing and trying to hold herself up.

Celosia sank forward, rolling on her toes and slamming her chest into the bag, sinking in with a wheeze. A dreamy smile appeared on her lips, accompanying light giggling.

"This is pretty good," she smiled.

As her mouth opened just barely to say something, Bryony paused. Her gaze turned down. Her chest seized in surprise as something warm wrapped itself around her.

Celosia didn't say anything either. Her arms wrapped themselves around Bryony's torso, pulling her body to hers. Her nose nuzzled and pressed Bryony's gel-slicked hair on the back of her head, filling her senses with bright green and the smell of coconut shampoo.

They shared a moment, curled up against one another, spooning in the beanbag.


	7. Chapter 7

Beneath Bryony's hair, Celosia opened her eyes abruptly. She felt a presence in the room.

Sinking back in the beanbag, turning her head over her shoulder to look, Celosia yelped, shuffling to pull her arms back from where they were around Bryony. She pulled herself upright quickly, sitting on the edge of the bean bag with her knees together and her hands folded over her knees. She only reached up to brush a loose lock of purple hair into the perfectly uniform dome. Staring down at her boots, she swallowed.

"H-Hi Aliana..." Celosia muttered quietly, an intense blush on her cheeks.

Standing just a few feet away from Bryony and Celosia in the beanbag, Aliana stood, looking out of place in the room. She held Celosia's visor in her hand, inspecting it with interest. She held it close to the multiple blinking orange beams on her visor, staring at it through the chrome grill. She pursed her lips, considering her words carefully. She looked up at the two scientists on the bean bag, looking back to the door, around the room, and back to the scientists. She gestured to the door silently with an outstreched arm.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything. Really, I hope I didn't wake you two. You did look so comfortable. Just slipping in to snag a bit of lunch, that's all."

Aliana took a few steps around the bean bag, immediately pausing. Her fists balled up and her mouth opened as though she was about to say something. She immediately froze, and then offered a smile, setting down Celosia's visor close to where it had been moments before. She then continued walking to the fridge.

She stopped again, turning to face Bryony and Celosia. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked.


	8. Chapter 8

Celosia shook her head. She still sat on the edge of the beanbag, holding her hands together on her knees, staring ahead blankly at the wall.

"No?" asked Aliana, pulling a small plastic container of salad from the fridge. She set it on the counter, removing the lid and tossing it, taking a plastic fork and the packet of dressing. She opened the packet of dressing and emptied it onto the soggy greens, taking extra care to shake loose any remaining dribbles of dressing and then tossing it as well. Her fork mixed the salad meticulously and made muffled crunching sounds.

"Well... No? I mean, we were just unwinding?" Celosia said tentatively. She looked down, nudging Bryony for confirmation, but when Bryony ignored her and just stared ahead blankly, she looked back up to Aliana, swallowing.


	9. Chapter 9

"And there's certainly nothing wrong with unwinding." Satisfied with the mix of her salad, Aliana pulled a folded white napkin from a drawer beneath the counter, picking up her lunch and heading to a small table in the corner. Her salad took up most of the tiny round table. Of the four orange chairs that surrounded the tiny table, Aliana slid the one out facing the wall.

A brief silence took over. With Aliana eating quietly and staring at the wall, and Celosia's body had turned to face where Aliana had been but she had lost in thought and was staring ahead at the fridge, and Bryony still lying on her side in the beanbag and her body facing the wall, there was nothing to discuss.

"Is there?" Aliana spoke up finally, halfway between a bite of salad.

"Hm?" asked Celosia. She flinched, snapping her train of thought in half.

Aliana cleared her throat, speaking up again. "Is there anything wrong with unwinding?" she asked.

"Nope. Not at all..." Celosia trailed off. She sighed, looking down at Bryony, who still hadn't moved or reacted to any of what had happened.


	10. Chapter 10

Aliana continued to eat, scraping up soaked salad bits that had stuck to the plastic container walls, catching bits of spinach and cranberry in the teeth of her fork, piling sunflower seeds in the center of her fork with crumbled and broken croutons, avoiding slimy strands of shredded chicken as she navigated her fork through the dense mess of salad and vinaigrette, balancing the collected food on her fork, slowly bringing it up to her lips, parting her lips delicately and opening her mouth wide, slipping the forkful of food into her mouth, closing her lips just enough and pulling the fork out devoid of any food, dipping it back in the salad as she chewed, savoring the blend of sweet and bitter, wrinkling her nose and taking a breath, staring ahead at the wall in thought.

Celosia stared, her chin resting on her hand, glinting purple fingernails resting just beneath her chin, thumb tapping idly at her perfectly smooth cheeks and scratching at minor itches, rubbing her nose every once in awhile, blinking inordinately from the unusual feeling of not having her visor on and fresh air on her eyes, her lips and cheeks puffing out as she ran her tongue along the inside of her teeth, fighting the tickling urge to sneeze, barely shifting her back every so often to avoid the creeping pain of sitting on the very edge of the beanbag and keeping most of her weight on her legs, as well as being hunched over, as well as wearing incredibly tight pants, as well as her matted purple hair starting to curl back into its natural form from not having enough hair gel in it, but all the while thinking intensely and keeping her mind off the things that bothered her like that, more focused on thoughts of work for the day, how the rest of the week was supposed to play out, how the week had already gone, possible plans for how the weekend might go, what Lysandre had said last week and where he had been all this week, if Xerosic had really forgotten or 'dropped' any notion of what happened three weeks ago, if she should do laundry today or tomorrow, if she still had time to catch the local market before it closed, if she was in the mood for coffee later and if she should invite someone, if she had time to read a magazine tonight, if she should try picking up reading that book again for Aliana and if she was thinking about it currently, if she had ran the trash the night before, was her deodorant running out, was that sale still going on in Santalune City, or if Parfum Palace wine tasting was last week or this next week, or if-


	11. Chapter 11

Celosia stopped, blinking intensely and turning back over her shoulder. Bryony was still lying beside her, curled up in the beanbag, her chest slowly rising and falling with relaxed breaths. Unable to tell if she was asleep, Celosia stopped herself from asking her anything. She continued to watch her, though, until she realized she was staring, and then she thought about it some more, realizing how hypnotic Bryony's relaxation was.

Bryony rested quietly, unable to tell herself whether or not she was asleep or awake, but it didn't matter, she was contentedly relaxed, either staring at the wall or closing her eyes beneath the visor, listening to the silence, more content than when she had first lay down in the sleeping bag.


	12. Chapter 12

Aliana wiped her mouth with the napkin ever so delicately and formally, folding the napkin together and placing it in the plastic salad container with the fork. Straightening her skirt, she stood up, walked straight to the garbage can and tossed the remains inside, and then returned to her table, sitting down, and staring at the wall. As she wondered what to do next, she realized there was nothing to do, and though it somewhat frustrated her, she realized there was nothing she could do about it, so she simply stared ahead at the wall, sighing helplessly.

This sigh caught Celosia's attention. She had sank back in the beanbag beside Bryony, resting on her side, her body perpendicular to Bryony's. She looked back up and over to Aliana, watching her stare at the wall.

"Um..." Celosia began, clearing her throat and raising her voice. "Do you maybe want to join us?"

Aliana tilted her head over to the side, not quite facing Celosia but acknowledging her. "Hm? Oh, no thank you. You two seem much contented on that together. Don't make me disturb you two when you're perfectly fine together."


	13. Chapter 13

Celosia scratched her cheek in thought, calming an itch that had flared up there. Twisting her lips to the side in thought, staring off towards the TV, she paused.

"Are you sure?" Celosia asked.

Aliana turned her head all the way around to face Celosia and meeting Celosia's slightly intimidated eyes, staring at her for a moment. "Me? Come on, Celosia, do you really think I'm the kind to join you in there? I'm certainly curious what all the fuss about this beanbag is, but in all honesty, I just don't think it's me, you see? I mean, it looks comfortable, that's for sure, but do we really know where it's been? And besides, I don't think I'm one to get in close quarters with other women. 'Do as thou wilt', for you two I say, and I reserve no judgment for you two, but I honestly can't see myself getting involved. Can you?"

After that, Celosia blinked, trying to process all the information thrown at her at once. As she opened her mouth to respond, she was interrupted. She felt the beanbag shift, someone moving behind her.

Bryony pulled herself upright, sitting up slightly in the beanbag. Both Celosia and Aliana had turned to pay attention to her, attentive at her sudden entrance to the conversation. She cleared her throat and began speaking.


	14. Chapter 14

Somewhat stunned, it took Aliana several moments before she let out an audible gasp, all of what Bryony said hitting her after several moments of thought.

"Is... You really mean it? That's really what you think about that, hm?" said Aliana. "I...Well... I would be completely honored to join you, in that case..."

Standing up from the table against the wall, Aliana slid the chair on it's metal supports back beneath the table, clanking gently against the iron support that held the little round table up. She walked over towards the beanbag apprehensively, stopping at the edge, her hands held out to the side in a somewhat unsure position, looking even more uncomfortable in the awkward position.

Celosia sat up abruptly in the beanbag, sinking back down into the center with a wheeze. She held a hand out to the Aliana like a stop sign.

"Just one moment, milady," said Celosia, cracking a smile to accompany her newfound confidence. "This is a no-visor zone."

Aliana froze in place, staring down to Celosia, her thick chrome visor barely hiding her look of bewilderment. After a moment, she looked more skeptical, and then her smirk returned.. "Is that really a rule? Or did you just make that up now, hm?"


	15. Chapter 15

Celosia's confidence snapped in two. "Uhm... Uhhh... I mean, I think it's a pretty good rule?"

"Oh sure," Aliana smirked, sinking down onto her knees. The sinking feeling of the cushioned and incredibly soft beanbag felt strange and unusual, catching her slightly off-guard. Once she felt comfortable on the soft surface, she leaned over and caught herself on her hands, crawling over closer to where Celosia and Bryony were, moving elegantly over the surface like a slinking cat.

As Aliana crawled around the perimeter of the round beanbag, circumnavigating Bryony in the center as she carefully avoided her, Celosia too shifted onto her hands and knees, stepping over Bryony as she crawled onto facing Bryony's backside, back where she had been before. Celosia sank down into the beanbag, returning her arms around Bryony and sliding her chest up against her backside, returning to the spooning position.

Aliana paused, watching the two scientists as they snuggled tightly together.


	16. Chapter 16

"Well, are you just going to stand there?" murmured Celosia.

"Hm?" Aliana's eyes shot down and zeroed in on Celosia's, her head tilting down just slightly to see her better through the visor.

Celosia stared up, her half open eyes barely peeking up beneath Bryony's hair. A small smile peaked on her lips, her eyes blinking sleepily. She brushed her hair back, her fingers gliding over the edge of the bangs loosely draped over her brow, knocked loose from sinking into the bean bag.

"Come on, just like Bryony said, it's simple," Celosia said, a slight giggle in her voice. "Just dive in, enjoy, relax. See?"

Aliana leaned back as she kneeled, adjusting her knees as they rested at the edge of the bean bag, relaxing her posture. She took a deep breath and thought.

"Were you serious about the visor thing?" Aliana finally asked.

Blinking, Celosia gave her a confused look. "Is that really what's holding you back?"

"Were you serious?" Aliana asked again.

"I mean... I mean a little...? I don't know, I just thought it'd help you relax," Celosia shrugged. She smiled again. "Honestly, it's not a big deal. Wear it if you want."


	17. Chapter 17

As she kneeled, Aliana thought some more. Her gaze shifted down to the bean bag, contemplating the bright orange blob. After a moment, her hands slid to either side of her head, her fingers slipping over her ears and behind either side of her visor. She found a metal switch, a small tab, pressing in and locking in the switch. Her thumbs slid towards the bottom corners and pressed up slowly and firmly. The visor swung up, held by a hinge at the center of her temples, the little foam pads that pressed around her cheekbones releasing with a quiet wheezing. A thin metal band wrapped around her forehead and held her visor up.

"That's the ticket," Celosia said quietly, beaming.


	18. Chapter 18

"That's against regulations."

Aliana's eyes darted up to the door, just as Celosia's head whipped around to face the door as well. Bryony slowly tilted her head to the side and looked.

Mable sneered, arms crossed as she stood in the doorway.

She quickly shut the door behind her, almost slamming it loudly, striding in quickly and then standing at the edge of the bean bag, crossing her arms and staring down the three scientists. She took a deep breath and held her anger to herself, gritting her teeth.

Aliana stared up in horror, her mouth slightly agape, lip quivering. Her bright hazel eyes focused up on her, meeting Mable's visor.

"Calm down Mable, it's just-" Celosia began. She was cut off by Mable's hand, held out to her like a stop sign.

"Don't think you'll talk your way out of this one, missy."

Celosia glared at her. "It's not her fault."

"It's _all_ your fault," Mable corrected. She looked each of them in the eye, seething beneath her visor.

"W-Why...?" Aliana finally asked.

The twin slats of blue light on her visor flashed at Aliana as Mable looked up at her. She flashed her teeth in disgust at her. Her fists balled up in anger as her arms unfolded.

"'Why'? ' _Why_ '?" Mable repeated, her knuckles turning white.


	19. Chapter 19

All three of the scientists stared up at Mable, hanging on her answer.

Beneath Mable's visor, her eyes searched the room, staring at each of their faces. Her mouth hung slightly open, about to speak, pausing for effect. A small choke came from her as she paused and considered her words. Then, taking a deep breath, she continued.

"Because. You didn't... invite... _me!_ "

The room was dead silent. All three scientists sitting on the bean bag froze. The words hung in the air, Mable's tense and angry breaths sinking into the room.

With no answer from any of the other three, Mable ground her teeth in frustration. Finally, she groaned loudly and dramatically, throwing her hands up in the air and storming off towards the kitchen side of the break room, stopping just short of the wall, crossing her arms and staring at the wall, facing away from the scientists.


	20. Chapter 20

"What the hell, Aliana?" Celosia asked.

Aliana flinched. Her eyes immediately shot down to Celosia, flared and angry. She gave her a panicked look. " _What_? This isn't my fault! I just walked in because it was my lunch! This was you both!"

"No! No, not that. _That_ ," Celosia said, pointing to Aliana's eye.

Just above Aliana's eye, right on her brow line, a thick cut marked her, a gash, like something had gouged her. The whole area around it was deep red and patchy purple in some places. A scab had formed uncomfortably and warped on in the gash, barely holding the split skin together.

"Oh, _this_? Heh heh, it's just a little something... Picked it up in the kitchen, you know! I, uh, _fell_ , the other day. Was making dinner in my slippers, hit a small wet patch of the floor, then, well," she made a quick gesture with her hand, sliding it through the air, curving it up and then landing it flat upside-down, whistling as she did so. "Gave, _myself_ , this one," she smiled uncomfortably.


	21. Chapter 21

Celosia bit her lip, looking at Bryony briefly for support, and then back to Aliana. She swallowed.

"Horse. _Crap_ ," Mable said through gritted teeth. Her head turned just over her shoulder to stare down Aliana.

Instinctively, Celosia caught herself chewing on a fingernail. Sitting up to better face Mable, Celosia took a deep breath, opening her mouth to speak.

"Just why do you say that, Mable?" asked Celosia.

Mable simply glared at Celosia. "Did you even listen to 'liana's story? 'I did this'? _Right_ ," scoffed Mable, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Do you even know who she's dating?"

A look of dismay crossed Celosia. "Isn't... Isn't she married?"

" _Was_ , but then-"

"Mable," Aliana interrupted with a sharp breath of air. "Please."

"Was," Mable continued. "But things took a turn. And just wouldn't _you_ like to know who she's dating? _Hm_?"

Celosia stared up, mouth agape in surprise and terror. Her whole face turned an even paler shade as the blood drained from her cheeks. "I... I... Mable, I-"

" _It sucks being left out of things, doesn't it?!_ " Mable hissed.


	22. Chapter 22

Aliana had closed her eyes a long time ago. She had given up trying to cover her face with her hands, her blush too intense to hide. She just rested on the edge of the bean bag, resting on her knees, frozen with fear.

Something tugged at her gloves. Aliana opened her eyes, looking down to see Bryony, her hand atop hers. She pulled her hand away tenatively, staring with curiosity into her own reflection on the blinking green, smooth surface. Slowly, delicately, she put her hand back on the bean bag, reaching for Bryony's hand and holding it gently, rubbing Bryony's palm with her gloved thumb. She smiled bleakly, a small bit of joy poking through her shame.

Bryony sat up, her body facing Aliana's. She reached up around either side of Aliana's head, and slid her fingers behind her ears. A hand held the raised bulky metal plate of her visor, while another hand slid the tight metal band out from over her ears on either side. The band slid out with ease and freed Aliana's forehead of it's grip. Bryony set it aside, resting it next to Celosia's just in front of the bean bag. She wiped away a loose hair from Aliana's forehead, one that had been caught in the band before, running her finger over the irritated and pink band of skin that marked where the visor band had been.


	23. Chapter 23

"Thank you..." Aliana whispered, giving a bittersweet smile.

Bryony smiled lightly, leaning forward and pulling Aliana into a tight hug. Her arms wrapped around and her hands found her back, patting lightly and stroking gently. She heard Aliana's quivering and terrified breaths beside her, hearing them slow and turn into warm, slow, relaxed breaths.

Celosia and Mable stared, not even realizing they were staring, almost confused at what they were watching.

Aliana pulled away sharply, pushing a mildly confused Bryony away. Gripping Bryony by the shoulders, she stared deep into the glassy visor Bryony wore. Her expression turned somewhat serious, almost squinting through like she was focusing on something in the visor.

"All of this. This whole, _thing_ , you organized... No... _Invited_ us to, all orchestrated by you... And you didn't have to show any emotion. You just had to smile... Smile and hold us... Hold _me_... You invited us all to take our visors off, and you didn't even take yours off... What's that all about? Why? Do you just... Give? All you do is give?"

Bryony stared down at Aliana, blankly, showing no emotion beneath her wide visor. Her mouth opened slightly, somewhat surprised.


	24. Chapter 24

Aliana closed her eyes, tilting her head down briefly to shake her head. Her hands slid from Bryony's shoulders up to her cheeks, her thumbs sliding against the arms of Bryony's green visor. Her head rose again, a smile on her lips.

"It's your turn, dear. _You_ need to unwind," said Aliana.

Bryony stared dumbfounded, watching as Aliana slowly removed her visor. She shut her eyes as light poured in from all around her vision.

Watching the visor in her hands, Aliana took the visor down to between her body and Bryony's, staring down at the visor. Her teeth cracked through the smile, as she folded down the two arms of the visor, resting it atop the growing pile of visors beside the bean bag.

Bryony blinked, her eyes adjusting to the light. Her lime green eyes stared deep into Aliana's orange eyes.

"It feels good to unwind, doesn't it?" asked Aliana, chuckling.


	25. Chapter 25

"Wait... So, there was a boyfriend... And a husband? What exactly happened?" asked Celosia under her breath, frowning in thought. Looking over to Mable as she stood beside her, she nudged her with her elbow. When Mable yelped quietly in response, her head whipping around to face her, Celosia nodded in Aliana's direction.

"What about her?" asked Mable.

Celosia nodded again towards Aliana. "You know, that whole thing about her boyfriend and- Just, the cut over her eye? What really happened?"

Mable opened her mouth to reply, and then bit her lip. She crossed her arms defensively, swaying from side to side uncomfortably. Finally, she looked back at Celosia.

"Nothing, I guess... But something? I had just heard rumblings at the recruiting office... We were trying to figure out _who_ , but... You know... That's just how gossip goes," Mable said, smiling awkwardly.

Any pretense of a smile dropped from Celosia's face. She stepped closer to Mable, stepping between her and the two scientists on the bean bag. She sneered, gritting her teeth and holding her anger within.

"You... _Lied_?" asked Celosia, hissing in hushed tones.


	26. Chapter 26

The twin slats of blue light on Mable's visor glared down at Celosia expressionlessly. Mable pursed her lips and frowned.

"Not necessarily..." Mable said quietly, her tone sounding almost cutesy and innocent. "I just... _Played_ off the element of truth that I knew, and 'liana did all the work for me. I just needed to play it up a bit and everyone would feel bad," she finished, shrugging slightly at the thought. "Then Bry-Bry over here steps in, makes everything good as she always does, and presto! The equilibrium of the room returns. I seem like a valid member of the conversation, everyone feels sorry for one another, I toss an apology in somewhere, no big deal! Life goes on."

"You seem awful calm for someone who feels the _need_ to wreck anything she doesn't have a stake in," hissed Celosia.

Mable, whose gaze had shifted from the bean bag back to Celosia, was suddenly caught off guard by Celosia's anger. Her smile faded into confusion.

" _What_?" Mable snapped under her breath.


	27. Chapter 27

"You know what. We were perfectly fine before you wrecked everything," said Celosia, crossing her arms even tighter.

Mable's nostrils flared. " _We_?! Don't you know when you say that, you leave _me_ out?"

" _Exactly_ ," said Celosia, flashing a brief and evil smile. "You clearly don't want to spend time with us and relax. You just want to stir up drama and discord, and that's not what we're here to do."

"Why do you think I'm the one who does those things? Don't you think that we're ignoring the greater conversation?" asked Mable. " _Nobody_ was going to talk about Aliana's little cut, or bring up the fact that it might very well have been from some abusive relationship she's in-"

"It doesn't matter if we were going to talk about it or not!" Celosia shot back, her fists balling in anger. "Aliana clearly didn't want to talk about it, so we weren't!"

"It needed to be talked about. I will not play villain because none of you will. Truth is, you _needed_ me to come in and bring this up. You _needed_ me to upset the balance. Hell, you needed me to _create_ the _balance_."

" _What's balanced about this_?!" Celosia shouted.


	28. Chapter 28

The room dropped dead silent. Between all four of them they exchanged tense glances. A heavy, stressful quiet time was enforced on the room by all members of the room.

"We, _need_ , each other," Mable stressed, her teeth gritted.

"You're done talking. You've done enough today," said Celosia. She clutched her chest, feeling her elevated breath rise and fall, burning her throat. She only now just thought about her shout from just a moment ago.

Mable tried to calm herself too. " _Listen to me_ ," she hissed. "We're all on the same team, we're all playing like we're on the same team-"

" _Supposed_ to be playing on the same team," Celosia interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

Mable nodded reluctantly. "Right... You're right. I might not have been playing on the same team as much as I should have."

"Yes," Aliana interjected, clearing her throat.

Hanging her head, Mable sighed. "Yes, that too. I'm sorry Aliana..."

Celosia's angered features eased, calming and looking almost apologetic. "Okay Mable," she continued quietly, "What's your point?"

"I'm saying, maybe there's a reason we're all together today... Why we're in this break room... Why we're cuddling on bean bags and taking our visors off and just _understanding_ one another for once... And even if there isn't... Isn't it more important that we _are_ together? Despite everything that happens? Isn't it so special that we're together for just this one moment?"

Mable paused, her gaze trailing around the room to all the faces that looked up at her.

"Celosia, you're right... I shouldn't have barged in, trying to ruin this... It's who I am! I just..." Mable sighed. "I just thought this was something else."


	29. Chapter 29

After a few moments of silence, Aliana finally cracked. She let out a croak, then started crying into Bryony's shoulder, turning her body in as it heaved with sobs.

Mable froze with fear, watching Aliana and slowly stepping towards her. Her footsteps were halted by Bryony, who held a hand out for her to stop. The twin slats of her visor raised from watching Aliana to making eye contact with Bryony, meeting with Bryony's contempt filled eyes. She stepped back tentatively to where she had been standing beside Celosia.

Bryony, still staring down Mable sternly, lowered the hand she had reached out to Mable with and put it on Aliana's backside, stroking gently. She leaned in towards Aliana's ear and kept her head on her shoulder, whispering almost wordlessly. When Aliana nodded and whispered an equally inaudible response, Bryony shifted from the bean bag, pulling herself onto two feet, and helping Aliana to her own feet as well. She slung an arm around Aliana's back, leading her by the shoulder. She grabbed both visors in her free hand, giving both Celosia and Mable and acknowledging look, walked towards the door at the far end, and left.

The door shut and left just Celosia and Mable.


	30. Chapter 30

"Where do you think they went?" Mable asked finally.

Celosia shrugged. "Does it matter?"

Almost stunned by this question, Mable stared ahead in confusion. "Wh-... Doesn't it matter?"

Celosia sighed. She slowly crossed the room, walking towards the bean bag, walking around the bean bag, and stooping down to collect her visor. She held it in her hands, cradling it, staring at the darkened inside almost like she was mourning.

"It matters that Aliana, _whatever_ was happening with her, got company and help that she needed," said Celosia. "It's not necessarily our business what happened as much as it is hers."

"It... It is our business, isn't it?" asked Mable.

Celosia stared at Mable. "It's our business to be there for one another when we need it."

Mable froze. Slowly, her arms folded together and crossed. Her head slowly tilted down to allow her visor to see her own boots.

Celosia rubbed the corners of her brow delicately, feeling for the little lump beneath the skin: a little disc magnet on either side embedded beneath two equal-sized dots of white scar tissue. She heard a faint chirp, a buzz beneath the skin. Two little purple diodes lit beneath the skin. As Celosia tapped the matching seals on the inside of her visor, preparing to seal the visor to her head, she paused. She stared up at Mable.

"Mable... Did you want to take your visor off too? Just to unwind for a moment?"

Mable looked up to meet Celosia's gaze. A pained expression had appeared on her face. Her lips quivered, almost twisted in some kind of agony. The skin beneath her eyes, the skin that appeared just below the visor was red and irritated.

Noticing Mable's pain, Celosia stepped forward carefully. She noticed a small purple patch beneath Mable's visor, just below her left eye. As she went to say something, she froze as Mable reached up to her visor.

A small metal tab on the top of Mable's visor, centered with the brow, pushed in with a light beep. Small metal teeth that met together over the bridge of her nose retracted sharply. Two metal hinges, powered by small pneumatic arms, retracted slowly and opened her goggles. A small rubber seal cupping the goggle piece of the visor released as they swung and folded twin slats against her ear.

Celosia shrieked in pure horror. The visor in her hand dropped, and the crunch of cracking glass could be heard from the visor.

"Oh _Mable_..."

Mable's left eye was swollen and puffy, bright purple and red all around. A black eye. The crystal blue irises darted anxiously as Celosia stared in horror. Both eyes, even the injured one, were pink and swollen with tears, drizzling down her thick black eyelashes.

A loud choking sound came from deep within Mable's throat. A choking gasp of tears came from her as she suddenly opened her mouth, unable to breathe through her nose any longer or contain any sense of composure. She sobbed openly, suddenly lunging forward and pulling Celosia into a tight, choking hug as she wept and cried loudly.

Celosia stared ahead, completely dumbfounded.

"Oh my _Arceus_..."


	31. Chapter 31

The sky was overcast, gray clouds smearing together over the sky, darkened and full of rain. The sun would be visibly setting if the clouds weren't obscuring it. Instead, the sky became perpetually darker, and the rain poured.

Celosia had barely made it up the first few stairs to her apartment complex. She sat with the same, dumbfounded expression she had all afternoon, sitting on wet stone steps that soaked through her pants. Even though she had just changed out of uniform into something more casual, she already felt the urge to change into something drier. Instead, she continued to sit and stare in thought. In her hands, she cradled the remains of her visor, water seeping through the crack in the purple glass from when she had dropped it.

The orange bean bag was in a trash bin beside the stairway, soaked and running over with rainwater.

As Celosia took a deep sigh, she paused, blinking in confusion. She felt the rain above her stop, even as she watched rain splash onto the road ahead. She looked up.

Bryony stood, holding an umbrella over herself and Celosia. Her gaze was locked on the bean bag in the trash.

Celosia simply sighed, also looking at the bean bag. Hanging her head, she stared down and clutched her knees solemnly. "I had to. Sorry, but I think after today I didn't we couldn't afford to keep it... I hope the others aren't mad..." she said quietly, just enough so that Bryony could hear.

Silently, Bryony sat down beside Celosia on the rain soaked steps, holding the umbrella between the two.

"I hope _you_ aren't mad either..." Celosia trailed off.

As Bryony stared ahead at the street and the other apartments that lined it, Celosia looked Bryony over. Though she had changed into civilian clothes, she was clearly not dressed for the rain, or even for casual day-to-day wear. She was wearing pajamas. Even looking down at her own clothes, the only thing really prepared for the weather the heavy black coat on her arms, despite the hood drawn down.

A thick lock of purple hair had become unstuck from the side of Celosia's head, unslicked from the uniform hair as rain water soaked it. She brushed it aside and stared ahead with a sigh. She returned to her thoughtful expression, staring out over the street.

"I didn't stay too much longer after you. In fact, Mable left before I did," she chuckled briefly. "After I asked Mable to take her visor off... Well, that's when things went south..."

Bryony looked at Celosia curiously, noting the pause in the conversation.

"Mable... She had a black eye..."

Bryony raised an eyebrow.

"Heh, of course, as soon as I asked she got defensive... But then, she said she had got into it with a grunt... Several grunts, actually..." As she trailed off, Celosia found herself chuckling lightly. "I mean, typical Mable... But... I still felt bad for her... She certainly felt bad for herself..."

A hand landed on Celosia's thigh. Looking down, her gaze following the arm, it was Bryony, gazing with a warm, ultimately bittersweet smile. She tried to return it, but she was too focused on the memory. As Bryony stroked her knee comfortingly, Celosia tried to continue.

"Of course... Maybe I'm just too cold... But of course I should have known that Mable wanted to talk. I mean, why else would she make a big stink about Aliana?"

Celosia shook her head dejectedly.

"And then I asked. And you know what Mable said? Mable said that _Aliana_ got into it with the grunts as well. _Aliana_... Can you believe that? _Aliana_!"

Bryony nodded. Her smile seemed a more bittersweet, but a bit more understanding.

"We rooted out the wrong person... And Aliana... Just _watched_..." Celosia laughed incredulously. Her hand ran back through her hair, intending to slick it back but instead spiking it up slightly. She swallowed, returning to her thoughtful expression. "Honestly, I mean... Just..." she sighed again. Her head hung down limply, almost like she was out of breath.

The hand on Celosia's thigh pulled back, shifting to Celosia's spine, rubbing gently. Bryony nodded with the conversation, keeping her smile.

"When I saw the bean bag... When you were all concerned that I had walked in on you not working and I was about to report you... I really _was_. Xerosic asked where you were, and I said I'd handle it myself... But then I saw how relaxed you were. I knew Xerosic was going on mission, so, well, I just _joined_ you. In all reality I knew I'd get in trouble, at least the likelihood was high, but I also knew that, well, there wasn't anything actually _wrong_ with it... It was actually perfect. It made sense why you'd do that immediately. And... Mable was right in a lot of ways. It _was_ good that we were all together... That was a rare moment."

A light chuckle came from Bryony. Her smile had increased tenfold.

"I like it because it was _simple_ ," Celosia continued. "I like it because literally _nothing_ could go wrong... But, well, I screwed it up..."

Celosia gazed down into her visor, watching water trickle through the crack in it. The electronics had long since fried. The foam pad around the center lens was beyond repair. In the bubbling, trickling pool of water inside, Celosia saw her own reflection, staring into it.

Feeling something nudge her body, Celosia looked over. Bryony's arms had wrapped around her, warmly hugging her. Celosia only stared ahead, still lost.

"I feel like a lot happened today... I feel like we got to the end of... _Something_... I just don't know what the lesson is..."

Bryony continued to hug Celosia, staring ahead contentedly as Celosia spoke.

"Today _should_ have been building towards something... It can't be the end... _Why_ is this the end?"

Something wet brushed against Celosia's cheek. Looking down, it was Bryony's hair, her head nuzzling into Celosia's own shoulder. Despite this, Celosia fought to keep her mind focused.

"Maybe... _Maybe_... That _is_ the lesson... There _shouldn't_ be one..."


End file.
